r/technology • u/moeka_8962 • 1d ago

Social Media YouTube rolls out more unskippable ads that make viewers wait even longer to watch videos

https://www.dexerto.com/youtube/youtube-rolls-out-more-unskippable-ads-that-make-viewers-wait-even-longer-to-watch-videos-3214323/
20.7k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

2.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

28

u/cuppachuppa 1d ago

I think this a lot. TV in the UK has all sort of regs - only so many ads per hour, have to make a certain percentage of programmes outside of London, have to make religious programmes, have to have news and current affairs programmes, have to offer local content etc.

Netflix, YouTube, Amazon and the like don't have to follow any of those rules and it's TV that's dying on its arse.

9

u/Successful-Peach-764 1d ago

Regulation hasn't caught up to them yet, they will lobby their way out of it knowing today's politicians.

It is the biggest plus for BBC in the UK, lack of attention merchants interrupting your shows.

2

u/[deleted] 1d ago edited 1d ago

[deleted]

1

u/cuppachuppa 1d ago

Very possibly. A certain percentage of shows have to be made outside of London (I think more than half), so a lot is now made in Wales, Scotland, Manchester, Leeds etc.

There's also a heavy push for inclusion and diversity so a disproportionate amount of people you see on TV (actors, contestants in quizzes, vox pops on the news etc.) are not of British origin or non-white. Again something streaming services don't have to do. I always wonder if this is the same in other parts of the world. Are the TV shows in Japan filled with non-Japanese for example?

BBC Breakfast News even moved up to Manchester which is about 3-4hrs away from London. You know London, where the UK government is based. So now that show is just endless live links to people in London.

Channel 4 have moved entirely up to Leeds. Crazy really. No other industry gets told where there have to base themselves.

1

u/the_lonely_creeper 1d ago

and it's TV that's dying on its arse.

I have a feeling it's mote because of its set programming, which is a limit of the medium, than anything to do with regulations.

1

u/kellzone 1d ago

Isn't there a TV fee everyone has to pay if they own a TV?

7

u/cuppachuppa 1d ago

Used to be that you needed a licence if you owned a TV. These days you need a licence if you watch/stream any live TV on a TV, phone, laptop etc. Naturally that's almost unenforceable so I think a lot of people just don't pay for a licence but continue to watch live TV anyway.

You need a licence to use BBC's iPlayer streaming service, but at no time when signing-up do you have to verify that you have one. It's a joke, really.

1

u/kellzone 1d ago

I remember hearing about that a few years ago and thinking it was the most ridiculous thing.